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  <title>Required Format for Thesis Defense Announcement</title>
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<p><img src="http://www2.cs.uh.edu/resources/CSlogos/cslogo_sm.png" width=234 height=65 
alt="Department of Computer Science at UH"></p>

<h1>University of Houston</h1>
<h2>Department of Computer Science</h2>

<p>In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
<br>Master of Science</p>


<h2>Lei Zhao</h2>
<p>Will defend his thesis</p>

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<h2>Mavis: A Visualization Tool<br>for Multiple Sequence Alignments</h2>

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<h4>Abstract</h4>

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<p>Biological sequences like DNA, RNA, and protein are frequently analyzed
  in the field of bioinformatics. Multiple sequence alignments (MSAs) help
  identify similarity between the sequences and reveal their functional,
  structural, or evolutionary relationships. MSA analysis often requires
  various visualization techniques, which assist researchers to better
  understand, evaluate, and learn from it.</p>

<p>In this thesis, we introduce Mavis, a new approach to coloring MSAs and
  highlighting its quality and structure. Instead of using a pre-defined
  color scheme based on residue types, we design a new algorithm to
  dynamically generate a color for each residue based on a user-determined
  similarity score between this residue and others. This new tool colors
  an MSA in such a way that a well aligned region is represented by a
  solid-color block, while a poorly aligned one by a mosaic with various
  colors. Thus, the alignment quality and internal structure are clearly
  displayed. Mavis is ready-to-use for biologists without requiring advanced
  computer science skills and will deliver the visualization result of a
  typical MSA in minutes.</p>
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<strong>Date:</strong> Wednesday, July 13, 2011<br>
<strong>Time:</strong> 10:00 AM<br>
<strong>Place:</strong> 550-PGH<br>
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Faculty, students, and the general public are invited.<br>
Advisor: Prof. Yuriy Fofanov
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